Popular Young Actress Debby Ryan Stars In “Radio Rebel,” A Disney Channel Original Movie Premiering Friday, February 17

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Fan favorite Debby Ryan (“Jessie”) stars as a teen who secretly breaks free from her painfully shy self and into the persona of a bold podcast host who rocks her Seattle high school with music and the message to ‘be yourself,’ in “Radio Rebel,” a Disney Channel Original Movie based on the novel Shrinking Violet, premiering FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17 (8:00 p.m., ET/PT). The soundtrack will include Debby Ryan performing the smash hit “We Got the Beat.”

(Editors please note, images are available on Disneychannelmedianet.com; registration is required.)

Ryan stars in Disney Channel’s comedy series “Jessie” which premiered in September 2011 and is pacing to be the #1 cable TV series of all time among Kids 6-11. She also starred in the movie “16 Wishes” which delivered an impressive 5.6 million Total Viewers in June 2010. She first gained popularity among kids, tweens and families in Disney Channel’s hit series “The Suite Life on Deck.”

In “Radio Rebel,” Ryan plays Tara Adams, an introverted high school junior who can’t bring herself to speak in class — and especially when the newly-popular rocker, Gavin, is in her midst. Tara can’t imagine anything more intimidating than when her drama teacher teams her in class with Gavin and his prom date, the school’s cliquish queen bee, Stacy. Her shyness at school notwithstanding, alone in her room at home, Tara casts herself as Radio Rebel and, as host of a nightly podcast, showcases her passion for music and self-expression and her message to abandon cliques and celebrate each other’s differences. Radio Rebel quickly gains fans on campus — especially when her show lands on a big, local radio station — much to the chagrin of the school’s principal who considers Radio Rebel and her message to be in clear defiance of the school’s “anti-distraction policy.” Meanwhile, Gavin raves about the mysterious host and her taste in music but still, shy Tara – now oddly jealous of her alter-ego – can barely finish a sentence in front of him. As students clamor to learn the identity of Radio Rebel and the show’s popularity extends across Seattle, Tara’s two worlds begin to collide, reaching an apex when Radio Rebel is nominated prom-queen and the school, in turn, bans prom, causing a backlash from her fans. Now, Tara wrestles with two even bolder moves — organizing an alternative to the prom and revealing that she is Radio Rebel.

The multiplatform premiere schedule is:

THURSDAY, JANUARY 20

“Radio Rebel” page will be live on disneychannel.com with information about the movie and characters.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10

“Radio Rebel” exclusive preview available via Disney Channel On Demand, a video-on-demand service available to a variety of affiliates including AT&T U-Verse, Cablevision and Time Warner customers.

The teleplay for “Radio Rebel” was written by Erik Patterson and Jessica Scott (“Another Cinderella Story,” “The Haunting Hour”) and directed by Peter Howitt (“Sliding Doors,” “Johnny English”). The executive producers are Fernando Szew (“A Christmas Kiss”), Michael D. Jacobs (“3 Holiday Tails”), Robyn Snyder (“16 Wishes”), Jane Goldenring (“I Do (But I Don’t”), Kim Arnott (“The Haunting Hour”) and Oliver De Caigny (“Dear Santa,” “The Haunting Hour”). Based on the novel Shrinking Violet by Danielle Joseph, the movie was filmed in Vancouver, Canada. It is a production of MarVista and Two 4 the Money Media.

Disney Channel is a 24-hour kid-driven, family inclusive television network that taps into the world of kids and families through original series and movies. Currently available on basic cable in over 99 million U.S. homes and to millions of other viewers on Disney Channels around the world, Disney Channel is part of the Disney/ABC Television Group.

MarVista Entertainment (www.marvista.net), a leading Los Angeles-based independent producer-distributor of feature films and television programming, globally licenses television series, movies, documentaries and direct-to-DVD programming to multiple platforms throughout the world.